China opposes further pressure on Iran

Published September 24th, 2009 - 13:03 GMT

Mounting pressure on Iran will not be an effective way to persuade its leaders to halt the disputed nuclear plan, China said on Thursday

Mounting pressure on Iran will not be an effective way to persuade its leaders to halt the disputed nuclear plan, China said on Thursday, even as Beijing joined other world powers to demand a "serious response" from Tehran. Iran was told on Wednesday to prepare a "serious response" by October 1 to demands it halt its nuclear program, or risk the consequences.

"We believe that sanctions and exerting pressure are not the way to solve problems and are not conducive for the current diplomatic efforts on the Iran nuclear issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, according to Reuters.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, in remarks quoted by Xinhua news agency also repeated China's stance that the issue of Iran's nuclear plans was best resolved peacefully through dialogue.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in his U.N. address on Wednesday, did not directly mention the nuclear issue. In his speech, Ahmadinejad said Iran welcomes “drastic and humane” change and supports fundamental reforms in the international arena.

It is not possible to continue the current ruling situation in the world, he stated, adding the era for imposition of demands of certain few countries on the entire world and humiliation of nations is over.

“It is not acceptable that the United Nations and its Security Council are under the rein of a few countries instead of being representatives of all nations and while they should make decisions based on most democratic methods,” he said.